


The Stars Do Not Shine For Us

by camilllla



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25184461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camilllla/pseuds/camilllla
Summary: "Whenever you see the brightest star, just make a wish.”Yeosang groans into his mom’s arms. Adults are so stupid.“No, mom, everyone will be making wishes on the brightest star, and then my wish won’t get a chance.” She chuckles down at him and runs her hand through his dark hair. “Okay then. Which star do you want to be ours?”Yeosang quickly sits up and focuses deeply on the night sky. He points at a small cluster of 8 stars, definitely not the brightest in the sky.“You see those? Those will be my stars.”“Wow, plural? Okay then, my little star. All of those will be yours. Make a wish.”~~~~~~~~~For the ATEEZ storyline event
Kudos: 7





	The Stars Do Not Shine For Us

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the ATEEZ storyline event so its based off of those little stories and drawings we got this week.
> 
> This brings in each member's stories but is Yeosang-centric, his was about the stars.
> 
> heres the link to find the event and all their stories:  
> http://ateez.kqent.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=gevent&wr_id=1

As a young child, his mom would tell him to look up at the night sky. 

“Those stars shine for you, Yeosang. Even if I’m not there, just think of these stars, and all will be well again.”

She points at the brightest star. 

“Look at that one. Whenever you see the brightest star, just make a wish.” 

Yeosang groans into his mom’s arms. Adults are so stupid. 

“No, mom, everyone will be making wishes on the brightest star, and then my wish won’t get a chance.” She chuckles down at him and runs her hand through his dark hair. “Okay then. Which star do you want to be ours?” 

Yeosang quickly sits up and focuses deeply on the night sky. His mom holds back a laugh at his concentrating face and how seriously he is taking this. Then, he points at a small cluster of 8 stars, definitely not the brightest in the sky. 

“You see those? Those will be my stars.” 

“Wow, plural? Okay then, my little star. All of those will be yours. Make a wish.” 

Yeosang closes his eyes and thinks of those stars. He thinks in the quiet peace of the night.

~~~~~~~~

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Sirens wail. People scream for help. Children cry. People wish on their stars. Silence, interrupted by a steady beeping.

Yeosang sits on the chair next to his mother’s bed in the hospital and looks out at the night sky. He silently asks for their help.

Why didn’t you help her? All I want is my family to be safe. Please just keep my family safe.

Later that night, the beeping stops. And so do Yeosang’s cries.

~~~~~~~~

In foster care, he meets Mingi. Mingi, who looks so intimidating at first that Yeosang contemplates avoiding him as best he can, yet turns out to be the sweetest, most caring new brother to him. Mingi, who also used to wish on stars. Mingi, who now believes stars don’t work for people like them.

One night, they sit on the roof, hiding away from their chores. Mingi reads a book he found for free the other day, “free” being the only way they can really enjoy things at this point. Yeosang just looks up at the stars. He tries to read the message hidden within the constellations.

“Bro, you’re staring so hard at the stars, they’re gonna fly away. What’s your deal?” Mingi asks without looking up from his page.

Yeosang shrugs. “You ever just, wish on a star? Wish for a better life?”

Mingi finally looks over at him and snorts. “No. Wishes and dreams and lavish things like that don’t work for people like us. The stars don’t have time for lonely boys with impossible dreams. So just leave it alone before you get disappointed.”

Mingi always talks like that. Like there’s no way something good could happen to them. Like there’s no reason to dream or wish for a better life. Like living without dreams is normal.

“Besides, a million people probably wish on that same bright star, what makes you think it’s gonna stop and listen to us?

Because I have my own stars, Yeosang thinks. But he doesn’t say it aloud. It’s fine. He will just continue to make wishes in secret. Just like before.

~~~~~~~~

A transfer to their home gives Yeosang and Mingi a new friend. His name is Wooyoung, and although he seems to always be happy and having fun, Yeosang soon learns his true story. 

Another night on the roof, as seems to be their usual way to spend time off. Mingi is off somewhere, probably getting scolded, so it's just Yeosang and Wooyoung. Yeosang is once again staring up at his stars.

Wooyoung is different tonight. More quiet. Maybe he understands the situation or just understands Yeosang’s type. 

Yeosang sits down with him and they share stories. Secrets. Wishes.

This happens every once in a while. A new kid will come in and right away you will learn everything there is to know about each other. Your bond will grow exponentially in just one night.

Yeosang learns a secret he has no idea how to process. How to react to. How to continue being friends with Wooyoung knowing he did this. 

But at least he can see the outcome. Seeing Wooyoung here, alone and still in foster care, still searching for a home, makes Yeosang feel slightly better, even while he realizes it makes him a horrible person.

Wooyoung gave up his chance to have everything Yeosang has ever wanted. He gave it up. For a friend who betrayed him in the end. 

And Yeosang is kinda glad. It wouldn’t be fair for him to give everything up and still get what he wants. So when Wooyoung tells him he realizes he made a mistake, Yeosang just turns his head back up at the stars to hide his smile.

“Do you still wish on stars?”

Wooyoung looks up with him, although his eyes turn towards the brightest star instead. Typical.

“I used to. But they never backed me up. Never helped me out. Never gave me what I want. I had to take it. And look where I still ended up.”

Yeosang thinks about his answer and his smile slowly fades. He realizes his stars never really helped him out either. He’s still in the same situation as Wooyoung, so why does he still believe so much in his stars?

When Wooyoung gets another transfer, Yeosang tries to put their interactions into the back of his mind. He can’t afford to doubt his stars. That’s how he loses hope. That’s how he loses his mother.

~~~~~~~~

On his way home from grocery shopping, Yeosang runs into San. Like, literally runs into him. 

Yeosang is struggling with trying to carry all of his bags when he gets distracted by the sudden sound of honking. Honking, which sounds too much like beeping, and Yeosang is trying to fix back on the situation before he loses himself in another memory. That kind of thing has been happening way too often lately.

He looks over at the mess on the street. A bunch of cars have stopped. It looks like normal traffic. Until Yeosang sees a figure jump out of one of the stopped cars and run towards him. Yeosang has no time to figure out a plan or even tell his feet to move, and the figure is still looking back at the car, and so boom! They hit.

The two boys groan for a bit, rubbing their heads in pain. Yeosang quickly tries to salvage the groceries before he gets yelled at for messing up another chore. While he’s picking up apples, he looks over to the other guy.

He looks to be about his age, with shaggy black hair that falls into his face, hiding his eyes. Yeosang pouts a bit in disappointment. You can tell so much about a person based on their eyes. Maybe this guy knows this too, knows the power of eyes to tell a whole life’s story. Maybe that’s why he’s decided to hide his, before anyone can know too much.

The other guy starts helping Yeosang pick up his things without saying anything. They continue to work in silence. When the last peach is safe in his bag, although slightly bruised, Yeosang looks back up at his helper. The guy is trying to make himself as small as possible. Trying to hide himself away from the world. Yeosang unfortunately knows that feeling more than anyone else. Maybe that’s what makes him say his next words.

“Hey, are you okay? Do you need to talk about something? I know I’m a stranger, but I find that sometimes that makes things easier.”

And suddenly Yeosang has a crying teen in his arms. He pats his back uncomfortably and says everything will be fine, but he doesn’t really know what to do. 

When he starts to notice people looking at them, two boys crying in the middle of the street, he speaks up.

“Hey I know we just met, but people are starting to stare. Do you wanna come back to my house and talk about it?”

He’s expecting a no, what other answer would he get, when suddenly the boy is nodding. 

And so, they go back home.

~~~~~~~~

Yeosang learns everything there ever is to know about San. His favorite color, purple. His favorite band, BTS, duh. The reason he jumped out of a car, well that’s a bit more complicated. 

“Maybe it sounds spoiled, but I was just sick of my life. Sick of the same parties, the same fake friends, the same facades we always had to put on. My family probably doesn’t even care that I'm gone, other than to prevent gossip around them. And I was sick of it!”

Yeosang helps San to stay at the same place as him and Mingi, and it seems like San is happy. Yeosang can’t possibly imagine how this place is better than living rich in a mansion, but San must have his reasons. Must have his own special wishes he places on unsuspecting stars.

Changing homes also meant changing schools. San starts going to their high school and immediately makes friends, which makes Yeosang a little jealous. He knows he’s the quiet type, but still. 

And so Yeosang meets new people who whittle their way into his friend circle and slowly into his heart. There’s Jongho, the freshman on the basketball team, Yunho, the dance team captain, and Seonghwa, an upperclassman who worked with San on one biology project and is now suddenly best friends with him. How San makes friends so quickly, Yeosang will never understand. And it scares him, if he’s being honest. When he’s alone at night, just him and his stars in the cool winter air, Yeosang whispers his fears. His inadequacies. His wishes, of course. 

But those wishes have become more selfish as time goes on. Yeosang went from wishing for his family to be safe and happy to wishing his friends won’t leave him, wishing he’ll get a good grade, wishing he won’t be punished this month for chores. 

And maybe that’s why the wishes have stopped working. Maybe he’s become too selfish or he’s wishing on too many insignificant things. But suddenly his whole life is going downhill and there’s nothing to stop it. Wishes on small stars don’t work anymore, but did they ever really work in the first place? Was Wooyoung right?

~~~~~~~~

It starts with Mingi. 

Mingi starts pulling away from Yeosang. Away from his only friend in the world. Away from his first brother.

Yeosang doesn’t know how to handle this or why it's happening. Is it a family? Is a family picking him up and he’s trying to let him down gently?

No, it’s even worse.

It’s Wooyoung. Wooyoung, who is finally going through with his plan. Mingi is still vague on details, but Yeosang knows. Yeosang remembers the whispered secrets and wishes they shared. He knows that he finally decided to take action and this is just step one. He knows that Wooyoung is trying to right his mistake, but he never knew it would affect his life.

Then Seonghwa. How did he get Seonghwa? Jongho joins him. Even San leaves him.

They all leave him. For Wooyoung.

Yeosang can’t understand it, but one day he’s alone. He’s alone on his roof, staring at his stars, feeling more lonely than ever. 

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Yeosang is back. A rush of nurses. Incomprehensible yelling. People pushing him back and away from her. Stop pushing me away. Let me see her. I can’t be alone. I can’t!

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Yeosang snaps out of it and is back on the rooftop. He looks down at the phone beeping in his hand. 

It’s Yunho.

He answers. He has to; he has no one else.

Yunho sounds out of breath, like he’s running. Where is he running to? Or away from?

“Yeosang! Yeosang, please, I need your help. No one else is answering. I need to help him but no one is here. Please, I need him. I can’t lose him. I ca-”

“Yunho! Yunho, calm down. I’m here. I’m listening. Take a breath. What is it?”

“It’s him. He’s trying to take my brother away from me again. I can’t find him. I don’t know what to do!”

“Who? Who is trying to take who?”

“My brother! I need my bro-”

Yeosang hears a loud noise, a crash, a scream. A scream. He hears a scream. 

The phone call drops. And so does Yeosang.

~~~~~~~~

Yeosang wakes up to a night sky littered with useless stars.

He sits up, realizing he fainted. He looks down at his phone and his dropped call. No other notifications. No other attempts to contact him.

He throws his phone away from him, screaming in frustration. It breaks into hundreds of pieces. Great.

“That was rude.”

Yeosang tenses up. He’s not alone. 

He slowly looks to the figure across from him.

It’s a man in black. A mask covers most of his face. A hat tries to shadow his eyes. But Yeosang can still get a peek of them. They let him know he is not a threat, and Yeosang slightly untenses. 

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“It does not matter who I am, but you. You are important. You are what I want.”

Yeosang flinches away. What would someone want with a useless, lonely kid who can’t even make a wish on a star anymore.

“I understand you must feel defeated. Alone. But that’s why I am here. I can help you, if you help me. Here.”

The man in the black hat pulls out an hourglass with blue sand stuck at the top. As soon as he turns it, the blue sand starts to sparkle and flow from the bottom to the top. Yeosang looks on in awe.

“The man I am looking for is going around, rounding up lost boys who no longer have dreams, to become a part of his team. He tried to take you on his side too, but you know the power of dreams and wishes. You know to trust the stars.”

Yeosang looks away from the distracting hourglass to look at the man again. “Please. I know better now. Stars and wishes and dreams are just myths adults tell us to keep us complacent and hopeful. I may have bought into it then, but I know better now. The night sky does not shine for me. Dreams are a luxury for boys like me.”

The man in black grabbed Yeosang’s wrists in urgency. “No! You must not think like that! You must not lose to the shadows. Believe in the stars, please. You’re my only hope.”

Yeosang pushes him off. The man grabs for the hourglass. “This! This will help you transport to the other dimensions. It will let you follow that man and his lost boys. It will let you go to your stars.”

Yeosang looks at him warily. “You know about my stars?”

“Yes. They are a special place. You chose right. Stars don’t just shine for young kids to look up at and make wishes. They are places, people, out there in the universe, looking after you. And they are now asking for your help. Use this hourglass, find the man with the blue hair like this sand, and go after the shadows that trick the lost boys. Save them all, and your stars will reward you. Your wishes won’t go to waste.”

Yeosang thinks. He thinks of his mom, of his family, of his friends. He lost them all while the stars watched. While the stars sat there and let him become this lonely boy with nothing to lose. He knows now that the sky does not shine for him.

But looking over at the hourglass, he realizes he can make it.

~~~~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know if i'll continue this, i didn't want to write a lot for the event but i think this has potential so maybe i'll do more


End file.
